David M. Barber News

Playwright Kemp Powers knew he'd found something incredible in the personal recollections of former slaves documented by a federal writers project during the Great Depression. Discovering the different voices and views in those first-person histories inspired him to learn more and write Little Black Shadows, which has its world premiere at South Coast Repertory, April 8-29, on the Julianne Argyros Stage. Directed by May Adrales, the show is part of the Pacific Playwrights Festival. Tickets are available now at www.scr.org.  

The virtue of Byhalia, Mississippi lies precisely in its modesty. It prescribes no rules, apart from loving one another and telling the truth, for getting through a marital and race-inflected social crisis in a small town; it simply shows how one not-overwhelmingly admirable couple does it. And at that, the true secret here may just be the jokes. Those, and the blackout line at the very end of the play, which just may bring a lump to the throat.

The Contemporary American Theater Festival (CATF) at Shepherd University announces their 130-member company for the 2017 season.

The Contemporary American Theater Festival (CATF) at Shepherd University announces their 130-member company for the 2017 season.

Eugene O'Neill's Pulitzer Prize-winning masterpiece ANNA CHRISTIE, a gripping drama of a woman torn between the expectations of men and the secrets of her past, gets a timely retelling in Working Barn Productions' staging, directed by Peter Richards.

Eugene O'Neill's Pulitzer Prize-winning masterpiece ANNA CHRISTIE, a gripping drama of a woman torn between the expectations of men and the secrets of her past, gets a timely retelling under the direction of Peter Richards.

At its basic essence, a play tells a story. But when the audience has difficulty understanding the story and the language, the message, no matter how poignant or powerful, is lost. The Wedding Gift, a world premiere play at the Contemporary American Theater Festival, is a visual feast for audience members, but due to the storytelling method, many audience members are unable to understand the imaginative story.

We watch as Doug takes stock of his situation, recognizes the failure of vision on the part of his captors, their inability to see him as a fellow-human, and recognizes what this means in terms of his power and his lack of power. It is a humbling lesson, but one he needs to learn to survive.

Perhaps most important, 20th Century Blues (notwithstanding its title) addresses, from the inside and the outside, the universal experience of aging, an experience common to all times and places.

A show about older women celebrating and commiserating aging has been done countless times in entertainment, from Steel Magnolias on stage to The Golden Girls on television. However, 20th Century Blues, a world premiere play at the Contemporary American Theater Festival written by Susan Miller and directed by Ed Herendeen, breaks the mold when it comes to the female ensemble dramedy.

?Pittsburgh Public Theater presents the Pittsburgh premiere of David Ives' Broadway hit, Venus in Fur. Directed by Jesse Berger, Artistic Director of New York's Red Bull Theater, Venus in Fur runs June 2 - 26, 2016 at the O'Reilly Theater, Pittsburgh Public Theater's home in the heart of Downtown's Cultural District. For tickets call 412.316.1600 or visit ppt.org.

Born Yesterday, first performed in 1946, is a story that focuses on political corruption, corporate interests twisting the democratic process for their own ends, agenda-driven journalists, and a call to shed one's apathy and take control of a government that, ideally, exists to serve us all. The more things change.

The action, from the shadowy world of religious cults and deprogrammers, takes place in the ruins of a derelict motel, where distraught mother Kate (Tasha Lawrence) has been brought by Stine (Lee Sellars), a supposed specialist in reuniting abandoned parents with cult-brainwashed youngsters. Stine intends (so he says) to abduct Kate's daughter from the cult's commune and work with her here. The shockingly scuzzy room tells us immediately is that something is terribly wrong with Kate and Stine's scheme. So does a financial fact revealed in the early going. In the course of the play, we find out what that something and several other somethings are.

Trip needs to get himself and his family 'up north of the Boulevard' to a more civilized neighborhood. Then an unexpected circumstance dumps an opportunity in Trip's lap. The only problem is that, to take it, Trip would need to leave his integrity behind and possibly risk going to jail. Is getting north of the Boulevard worth it for Trip and his buddies? Does Trip even have a meaningful choice?

The Denver Center Theater Company presents the World Premiere of Most Deserving By Catherine Trieschmann's THE MOST DESERVING on the Ricketson Stage playing now through November 17th. A small town arts council has $20,000 to award to a local artist with an 'under-represented American voice.' Should they choose the teacher/painter of modest talent or the self-taught artist who creates religious figures out of trash? This comedy explores how gossip, politics and opinions of art can decide who is the most deserving.

Barrington Stage Company (BSC), the award-winning theatre in downtown Pittsfield, MA, under the leadership of Julianne Boyd, Artistic Director, and Tristan Wilson, Managing Director, presents Scott and Hem in the Garden of Allah, a world premiere play written and directed by BSC Associate Artist Mark St. Germain about the friendship and rivalry between F. Scott Fitzgerald and Ernest Hemingway.

Barrington Stage Company (BSC), the award-winning theatre in downtown Pittsfield, MA, under the leadership of Julianne Boyd, Artistic Director, and Tristan Wilson, Managing Director, presents Scott and Hem in the Garden of Allah, a world premiere play written and directed by BSC Associate Artist Mark St. Germain about the friendship and rivalry between F. Scott Fitzgerald and Ernest Hemingway.

The Contemporary American Theater Festival (CATF) at Shepherd University presents its 23rd season, set for today, July 5 - 28, 2013.

The Contemporary American Theater Festival (CATF) at Shepherd University presents its 23rd season, to be held July 5 - 28, 2013.